At St Mellitus College, we specialise in training men and women for ordination in the Church of England. Full-time and part-time programmes are available, with both routes combining academic excellence and practical experience, with a strong focus on the personal formation of each candidate for ordained ministry.

As well as doing academic work, all our ordinands are rooted in local churches or mission contexts whilst undertaking their theological study. On the full-time route, ordinands spend half their week in a church context, ministering under the supervision of a training supervisor, whilst our part-time ordinands learn to integrate their theological studies into their working life or local church context. Our full-time and part-time ordinands from across the country gather together for College residentials, which provide a rich context for worship, formation, spiritual growth, and friendships right across the breadth of the Church of England. Students discover what God’s people are doing across this country, learning from each other’s experience and from the different traditions that make up our community.

St Mellitus ordinands therefore learn through excellent academic teaching, which is integrated into their experience of mission and ministry in a local context, whilst being inspired by encountering fellow ordinands engaged in contemporary ministry. This combination makes St Mellitus College an exciting place to train for ordination, and prepares our students for the reality of mission and ministry today.

Entry Requirements

Recommendation for training from a Church of England Bishops’ Advisory Panel or equivalent from an overseas church (with agreement from a Church of England Bishop) or other UK denomination.

The College trains candidates for Ordained Pioneer Ministry (OPM). Our ethos is missional, pioneering and innovative which tends to suit candidates for this form of training. In addition to a number of academic modules that encourage thinking about new forms of church life, we offer a pioneer stream within our healthy church leadership programme as well as providing an OPM discussion and networking forum and some practitioner led seminars at residential weekends. Support is given to supervisors of OPM candidates.

We are committed to making sure spouses and partners of ordinands feel part of the St Mellitus College community, therefore we offer a number of things to help them integrate into the life of the College. For more information about what we offer, click on the title above.

Visit us on an Open Day

Visit us on an Open Day to experience a day in the life of the College and find out more about what it's like to study with us.